Third inmate with COVID-19 at Cook County Jail dies

A 42-year-old man is the third detainee of the Cook County Jail who has died after he tested positive for COVID-19, according to the sheriff’s office.

Nicholas Lee was hospitalized April 6 after he tested positive for COVID-19, the sheriff’s office said. He was pronounced dead Sunday morning at Stroger Hospital. His official cause of death is pending an autopsy, but officials believe he died of cardiac arrest, according to preliminary reports.

As of 5 p.m. Sunday, there were 254 detainees with “mild-to-moderate COVID-19 symptoms” being treated by Cermak Health Services, a division of Cook County Health and Hospitals System, and 20 who were being treated at local hospitals, the sheriff’s office said. Thirty-two detainees were moved to a recovery unit.

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Lee was jailed Oct. 31, 2016, after he was accused of robbing a man at gunpoint of $500, an iPhone and jewelry.

When Chicago police officers tried to arrest him, he was accused of fighting them in an attempt to escape and injuring one of the officers, officials said. Police recovered a loaded 9 mm handgun from him.

His charges in the case included armed habitual criminal and armed robbery — both are felonies punishable by six to 30 years in prison, the sheriff’s office said. He was also charged with aggravated unlawful restraint, aggravated unlawful use of a weapon, aggravated battery to a peace officer, felony possession or use of a firearm and resisting a peace officer. A judge denied bail.

Lee had a history of felony convictions dating back 20 years for drug and gun offenses as well as resisting and obstructing a police officer, the sheriff’s office said.

“Everything sheriff’s officers and county medical professionals have done since before the virus started spreading in the Chicago area was in an effort to prevent the loss of life to this deadly virus,” according to a statement from Dart’s office.